1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to sorting apparatuses that sort transported items such as printed material.
2. Related Art
Ink jet printers are widely known as recording apparatuses that carry out recording processes on recording media (for example, see JP-A-2009-92804). The printer according to JP-A-2009-92804 includes a main printer unit that carries out a printing process (recording process) on printing paper (a transported item) on an order-by-order basis; a transport unit that transports the printing paper on which the printing process has been carried out by the main printer unit in the downstream direction; and a collection unit (sorting apparatus) that sorts and collects the printing paper transported by the transport unit into the individual orders.
The collection unit, meanwhile, includes an endless collection belt (movement member) wound upon rollers so as to form a constant revolving movement pathway, and collection plates (support members) that are held by corresponding holding portions, provided at approximately equal intervals along the outer circumferential surface of the collection belt, in freely-removable states. By causing the collection belt to move in a revolving manner in the downstream direction sequentially, so that a single order is allocated to a single collection plate, the printing paper transported by the transport unit is sorted into individual orders and is then collected by the collection plates on an order-by-order basis.
Incidentally, with the collection unit in the printer disclosed in JP-A-2009-92804, the collection plates into which the printing paper is sorted and collected are disposed so that all of the collection plates have the same height. Accordingly, the collection plates appear to be in a stacked state when viewed from the end of the apparatus (that is, from the downstream direction), and there is thus a problem in that it is difficult to ascertain the collection states of the printing paper that has been collected in the individual collection plates.